BOLIVAR, Mo. - The Lincoln men's basketball team shot .545 from the floor and .556 from three-point range to beat East Central, 70-61, in the season opener for both teams on Friday afternoon (Nov. 9). The game was part of the SBU Classic and played at Southwest Baptist University.

Lincoln made 10 of its 18 three-point attempts and held East Central to just seven makes in 23 attempts from long distance. ECU shot just .348 from the floor in the opening half and was held to .451 shooting for the contest. The Blue Tigers were also hot at the line, making 12 of their 16 free throw attempts.

Amariontez Ivory led LU with 20 points, going 4-for-5 from three-point land, and Jonell Burton added 19 points and six rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting. John Burton, who had two steals, and Terrance Smith, who pulled down three rebounds, each finished with 12 points.

East Central scored the first five points of the contest and held an 8-3 lead 3:40 into the contest before taking a 13-10 advantage into the first media timeout. After ECU hit a free throw to extend its lead, Ivory hit a three to jump start Lincoln onto a 16-1 over the next 4:45 of the contest. The Blue Tigers ended up taking a 13-point, 40-27 lead into halftime.

L'Kielynn Taylor had a team-high nine rebounds as well as two assists and a steal in his LU debut, and Ni'Sean Rigmaiden tallied five points, three boards, an assist and a steal. Grant Olsson closed out the scoring with two points, a board and an assist, and Zack Fields provided two assists and a rebound off the bench.

The Blue Tigers will attempt to improve to 2-0 on the season on Saturday (Nov. 10) when LU continues the SBU Classic with a 2:00 p.m. CST contest against Minot State.